Following recent tours with Wardruna and God is an Astronaut, composer and sound designer Jo Quail is set to release her 7th album Notan on 12th September.
Notan is the seventh album from composer and sound designer Jo Quail—a work of striking contrast and graceful power. Drawing its name from the Japanese concept that explores the interplay of light and dark, the album unfolds as a deeply personal journey through polarity: presence and absence, softness and intensity, expansion and return.
What began in June 2023 as a series of raw, looped improvisations evolved into something far larger: a symphonic tapestry titled Ianus, now destined for recording with full orchestra in late 2025. But Notan is not that orchestral vision—it is the source from which it sprang, and the space to which it returns.
In these solo iterations, the music breathes with both intimacy and grandeur—cello, electric cello, and piano intertwine in richly layered textures. The sounds Jo creates on both acoustic and electric cello range from the traditional to the highly sculpted; all sound design and modelling is her own, forming the distinctive sonic identity that makes her music instantly recognisable. Each track is a live take, with every looped section performed in full, capturing the immediacy of live performance while allowing for a more considered control of sound—one that honours the context of making a record.
Across its arc, Notan evokes archetypal energies. ‘Butterfly Dance’ embodies matriarchal authority—stately and untouchable in its raw grace. First single, ‘Rex’, by contrast, traces Jo’s own evolution. First appearing on her 2010 debut as a tentative, fragile offering, the piece was left untouched for years. Reawakened during the solitude of lockdown, it transformed—emerging here as something altogether more commanding: majestic, grounded, and complete. Jo comments,
The first single from Notan is Rex, some of you who’ve been with me since the early days might remember it first appearing back in 2010. It’s a piece I’ve returned to in live performance, and over time it’s evolved and reshaped itself. This version is something quite different: a reimagining that feels both familiar and entirely new. I’m really proud to be releasing it now — and yes, it’s over 9 minutes long (a bold choice for a single, I know!).
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Jo Quail is also set to tour the UK in September to support the release:
12/09 – Manchester – Deaf Institute
13/09 – Newcastle – Cluny 2
14/09 – Glasgow Core Fest
15/09 – Edinburgh – Voodoo Rooms
16/09 – Nottingham – Bodega
17/09 – Bristol – Jam Jar
18/09 – Leicester – The Big Difference
19/09 – Southampton – Joiners
20/09 – London – Omera
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Photo: Jiawei Zhang
Aural Aggravation 